Page 43 - April-May 2023

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Dimitris Manikis, President EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, with Bikramjit Ray, Editor, ET HospitalityWorld, with Akash Bhalla,
Executive Chef, Manoj Rawat, Ramada by Wyndham Gurgaon Central, Chef de partie at Ramada by Wyndham Neemrana who won
who bagged the second prize. the third prize.

yndham Hotels & Resorts, the world’s these chefs were from tier 2, 3 and 4 cities, I wasn’t sure
largest hotel franchising company what to expect. But I was so pleasantly surprised both with
with approximately 9,100 hotels in 95 their presentation, originality and creativity.”
countries around the world, recently He added: “It dawned upon me that culinary talent is not
concluded a competition where nine restricted to hotels in big cities with brands like Ramada
WWyndham chefs competed for the by Wyndham. It was wonderful to judge the chefs and to
prestigious opportunity to join Wyndham’s F&B (food and host the entire Wyndham leadership team including
beverage) Advisory Council in Eurasia for 18 months. Dimitris Manikis, President EMEA and Nikhil Sharma,
The advisory council of chefs will guide the franchised Market Managing Director, Eurasia. It was an honour for
hotels to standardise and uplift their F&B offerings in the ISH to host the event which provided a great learning
conjunction with strategically designing and managing opportunity for our students and connected our academic
F&B operations. The event was held at the Indian School of institution with a global brand like Wyndham.”
Hospitality (ISH), Gurugram, with prominent Bikramjit Ray, Editor-In-Chief ET Hospitality and
personalities of the F&B industry in attendance. Celebrity Chef, shared his judging experience. “Witnessing
The theme of the competition was “Indian/ Indo fusion/ the standards of cooking in small towns was a revelation in
Continental & Japanese dishes” and Wyndham’s top chefs some ways. Tier 2 and 3 cities are becoming more popular,
were invited to showcase their skills and talents, whilst and the demand and availability are there,” he said.
also challenging themselves with cuisines, culinary skills “The competition highlighted that food is made with
and creativity. intelligence and creativity and the kind of dishes the chefs
The first prize was awarded to Yogendra Prasad, created was trendsetting. I think it’s a great experience
Executive Chef at Ramada by Wyndham Dehradun and I enjoyed the food the chefs prepared. For the
Chakrata Road, the second prize was awarded to Executive Wyndham chain to have chefs like these, their guests will
Chef, Manoj Rawat, Ramada by Wyndham Gurgaon have a very pleasant experience.”
Central and the third place was awarded to Akash Bhalla, Talking about the new initiative, Dimitris Manikis,
Chef de partie at Ramada by Wyndham Neemrana. President EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, in an
Dishes were judged based on creativity, taste, texture interview told Hospitality Horizon, “Indian dishes are one
and appearance by esteemed judges and industry subject of the leading cuisines in the world. What we are trying to
matter experts: Dilip Puri, Founder & CEO of ISH and do is use our hotels to promote the incredible Indian
Bikramjit Ray, Editor, ET HospitalityWorld. Each chef was cuisine. During the competition, I was amazed at how
also ranked based on hygiene and cleanliness (uniform, creative our Wyndham chefs are and how visually
personal, and workstation), food wastage, mise en place, appealing a traditional Indian dish can look. Now, our focus
culinary skills and visual appeal. is about how we can take the local cuisine to the next level.”
Dilip Puri shared his experience judging the He added: “We need to make sure that we go back to
competition. He said, “It was interesting to see that a basics with creativity and relevance in today’s world. What
brand like Wyndham and their hotels in India, which are is relevant is sustainable products – products that are
largely franchised had so much talent in their culinary homegrown and don’t add challenges, but instead
teams. When I was judging the competition, given that complement the environment. Sustainability continues to

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www.hospitality-horizon.com APRIL-MAY 2023 hospitality horizon